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June 17 - Evening
"The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth."
- Psalms 104:2-9
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| Bless the Lord and Give Him Credit For His Great Works! |
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Psalm 103 began with the words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul” in reference to David’s soul remembering “all his benefits” concerning the redemption of man from his fallen state.
Psalm 104 begins the same way, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” but this time is praising God for his work of creation (“stretching out the heavens like a tent”), revealing his splendor and greatness in creation (“covering yourself with light as with a garment”) and his daily maintenance of his creation (Psalm 104:14-25).
- 104:1 – The Lord’s invisible qualities – “splendor and majesty” – are seen in the light of our created universe. This is a similar characteristic that is seen in Genesis 1:3, “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.” This light was the same personal presence as identified in John 1:1-10.
- 104:2 – He stretched out the universe like a tent over his creation.
- 104:3 - Above the waters of Genesis 1:6-7 (Isaiah 40:22) the Lord laid the beams of his own private chamber and used the clouds as his personal chariot and the wind as a source of locomotion.
- 104:4 – Angelic beings appear from the spiritual dimension as natural phenomena such as wind or fire.
- 104:5 – Though the earth orbits in space the divine decree has established it in this stable orbiting position.
- 104:6 – Water covers the globe like a garment concealing the mountains and the valleys of the earth’s surface. (Genesis 1:2)
- 104:7-8 – The Lord transformed the surface of the earth causing the valley to enlarge and the mountains to rise higher. In this way the waters receded and land formation surfaced from under the waters. (Genesis 1:9-10)
- 104:9 – By his divine decree the Lord established boundaries for the water so that life could exist on the dry land that had appeared. (This is also seen in Job 38:9-10 and Jeremiah 5:22)
Our God is the creator and sustainer of this magnificent universe in which we live. The evidence of his presence, his creative acts and his daily maintenance are “clearly seen” in the creation itself. Geology, cosmology, astronomy and more (archaeology, anthropology, etymology, etc.) all attest to the presence of a creator who is overseeing his creation. In our age we must do as the psalmist did 3,000 years ago and remind our soul that these things are true. We need to tell ourselves to “Bless the Lord, O my soul” for he is the creator and sustainer of our physical universe with the home we call earth.
How tragic to ascribe the wonder creative works of the Lord and his daily provision and care them to a godless philosophy driven by random chance wand dominated by the heartless theory of survival for the fittest. No. Instead, remind yourself (your “soul”) of the wonderful, and, the obvious, manifestation of the splendor and majesty of your Lord who has clothed himself with light and designed the physical universe in which you now live. |
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"Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment
of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces."
- Matthew Henry |
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Saladin (1137-1193), a Kurdish Muslim, the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, a Saracen General and the Sultan of Damascus and Cairo said to Beha-ed-Din at Ashkelon in December 1188/January 1189:
"When God has given into my hands the rest of the Christian towns, I shall divide my State among my children; I shall leave them my last instructions and then, bidding them farewell, I shall embark on that sea to go and subdue the isles and the countries of the West. I do not want to lay down my arms until there is no longer a single infidel on earth." |
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Exaireo (Gr) – to cut out (Eng) – the Greek word exaireo is formed from the preposition
ex- (“out”) and the simple verb aireo which means “take, remove, seize.”
Together ex-aireo mean “out-take” or “out-remove.” Exaireo appears 5x in the NT:
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An early church document called Pseudo-Barnabas was written as early as 70 AD. The author of this book was familiar with the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke; the Gospel of John was not written until 15 years later in 85 AD). The author is also familiar with the letters of Ephesians, 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, 1 Peter and 2 Peter at that early date of 70-130 AD. We have documentation of these books being referred to, sited, or quoted very early in the second generation of Christianity, even while the Apostle John was still alive. |
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"Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly." - Proverbs 17:12 |
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USA and Israel relationship |
Conviction |
Health care |
Hungary |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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